Willstrop and this Qatar show court are old friendsĀ
By ALAN THATCHER and MATT COLESĀ
James Willstrop was in ruthless form as he he led six English winners through on the opening day of the Qatar QTerminals Classic in Doha.
Willstrop took just 18 minutes to ease past Faraz Khan (USA) 11-1, 11-4, 11-3 in this PSA Platinum event inside Dohaās Khalifa Tennis and Squash Centre.
Willstrop and the cool, air-conditioned Qatar show court are old friends. He imposed himself on the match with his precise play and accurate distribution the familiar key to a result that sets up a fascinating battle with world No.4 Tarek Momen in the next round.
Willstrop has been in a rich vein of form recently, beating Marwan ElShorbagy and Mohamed Abouelghar at the U.S. Open earlier this month to become the oldest ever Platinum quarter-finalist.
The 38-year-old dominated proceedings against Khan: āI had the experienced today. Iāve been here about 500 times.
āIāve got experience on the court. Itās a tough court to play and if he hasnāt been here before that can be a tough prospect. I donāt take anyone lightly and I prepared really well. I hope itās a sign of respect because if I let go for a couple of seconds then things can quickly change.
āYou learn a lot from days like this and Iāve been there plenty of times before. You have to go away and think about how you can improve. I gave it everything and gave him a lot of respect.
āI work pretty hard at home and I try and look after my body so I can play more squash because I do love playing. To come out then and get wins against players like that (at the U.S. Open) was tremendous. I was incredibly happy to be able to play at a great venue and the best tournaments.
āWeāre lucky and if I can play like that and the body responds OK then I can keep going and keep playing tournaments like this one.ā
Willstrop also weighed in on Gaultierās retirement, saying: āYou know these things are probably going to come at some point. We were playing when we were 14 and 15 years of age, so to read his message the other day was sad.
āHe had a phrase about the sands of time, it was pretty deep stuff and itās sad when it comes to an end. What a wonderful player for the game. I hope heās happy with the response on social media because he deserves it and people love him for his charisma and the fact that heās different and expresses himself.
āHeās been a legend and itās sad to see him go.ā
Looking ahead to his meeting with U.S. Open finalist Momen, Willstrop believed his movement will be the key.
He said: āIāll have to be quick and move well on here, and for a big galoot like me thatās not always easy.
āHeās going to take me in short, he always does. If I play at the level like I was in the U.S. Open, Iām in with a shout. I just need to take each game, moment and rally as it comes with him because he is too good.ā

Declan James and Tom Richards also won in Straight games to remove Syed Azlan Amjad of host nation Qatar and the USAās Shahjahan Khan.
James won 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 in 35 minutes to book his place in the last 32, where he will face Peruās Diego Elias.
āIāve missed it so much not being able to play the last few events since the start of August for different reasons,ā said James in his post-match interview.
āI missed it so much, but it gave me a chance to go back and train for the last three months, work with my coach after the Manchester tournaments on what I needed to improve on. Iāve been watching on, these guys have been playing every week, so Iām glad to be back.
āItās always a great match against Diego. Heās a fine player and world class and itās always played to a high level when we play and Iām just looking forward to getting a match of that quality. Iām desperate for these matches, to learn as much as I can. Iām here to push hard this week.ā
Elsewhere on the opening day, there were a spate of five-game thrillers on the side courts, with the English pair of George Parker and Adrian Waller coming from two games down to defeat Spainās Bernat Jaume and compatriot Nathan Lake.Ā Patrick Rooney also had to battle through a tough fifth game to overcome Tsz Fung Yip of Hong Kong.

Portugalās World No.68 Rui Soares made history as he became the first Portuguese player to win a Platinum level match on the PSA World Tour.
Soares took on Mexicoās Arturo Salazar in his debut at the Qatar Classic, just two months after his first experience of a major tournament other than the PSA World Championships.
In a quick-fire encounter, Soares, who only entered the main draw on Thursday due to a withdrawal from Englandās Richie Fallows, won 3-2 and will now take on New Zealandās World No.3 Paul Coll in the second round.
āItās unbelievable to play this tournament in Qatar,ā said the Portuguese No.1.
āThe organisation is unreal. Iāve heard a lot of good things, but itās great to be here to play this tournament. I was really nervous to start with, itās my first time on SQUASHTV, but Iām really happy to get that win.
āOnce you start getting a couple of wins in a row you get more confidence and the wins start coming along one after the other. Itās different coming to this kind of event after playing Challenger events, itās unbelievable.
āItās going to be a great experience for me to play him [Coll] on a glass court. Iām going to enjoy it the best I can and hopefully I wonāt be as nervous tomorrow. Iām really pleased to be in the second round and Iāll just make the most of it.ā
Spainās Borja Golan, 38, followed Willstropās example by beating Americaās Todd Harrity 3-1. Golan fought hard to win the opening game 13-11 but he dominated the fourth to win it 11-2 to book his place in round two, where he will take on No.4 seed Marwan ElShorbagy.
Following Gaultierās retirement, Golan is now the oldest man competing at the elite level of the PSA World Tour and the Spaniard paid tribute to his former opponent.
āI played with Greg since I was 14 or 15 and there is only one month between us,ā Golan said.
āHeās the best of his generation probably and it was very tough to play against him. But it gave you more determination to train harder because every time you stepped on court against him it was so difficult. You had to raise your level to your maximum, heās such a powerful player, he got all the balls back and his precision was unbelievable.
āHe was tough to play but also enjoyable to watch and I was lucky to play him for so many years.ā
Qatar QTerminals Classic.
First Round:
George Parker (ENG) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-2: 3-11, 9-11, 14-12, 13-11, 11-6 (76m)
Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-2: 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 12-14, 11-8 (60m)
Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) 3-2: 11-3, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9 (46m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-2: 11-4, 11-9, 10-12, 10-12, 11-7 (86m)
Declan James (ENG) bt [WC] Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (35m)
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-1: 12-10, 6-11, 11-3, 2-0 rtd (48m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [WC] Abdulrahman Al-Malki (QAT) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7, 11-5 (22m)
Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-1: 11-7, 11-6, 3-11, 11-2 (48m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt Todd Harrity (USA) 3-1: 13-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-2 (50m)
James Willstrop (ENG) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-1, 11-4, 11-3 (18m)
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (40m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-0: 14-12, 11-5, 11-5 (41m)
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-2: 5-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 (66m)
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt Christopher Gordon (USA) 3-2: 3-2: 11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 9-11, 11-3 (75m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Ryosei Kobayashi (JPN) 3-2: 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7 (63m)
Rui Soares (POR) bt Arturo Salazar (MEX) 3-2: 7-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6 (39m)
Second Round:
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) v George Parker (ENG)
Ramit Tandon (IND) v Patrick Rooney (ENG)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) v [8] Joel Makin (WAL)
[6] Diego Elias (PER) v Declan James (ENG)
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
Raphael Kandra (GER) v Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)
Borja Golan (ESP) v [4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) v James Willstrop (ENG)
Lucas Serme (FRA) v Tom Richards (ENG)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [7] Mostafa Asal (EGY)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
Adrian Waller (ENG) v Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
Rui Soares (POR) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)
Pictures courtesy ofĀ PSA